Wired intercoms for facilitating communications between crew members of military vehicles such as tanks and armored personnel carriers are well known. Such contemporary wired intercom systems comprise a wired communications system within the vehicle itself, as well as headsets which must be worn by the crew members and plugged into the wired intercom system of the vehicle.
However, those skilled in the art will appreciate that such wired intercom systems possess the inherent limitation of being unusable by a crew member who is physically disconnected, i.e., not plugged into, the wired intercom system of the vehicle. Thus, when it is necessary for a crew member to bail out or leave the vehicle, that crew member can no longer communicate directly with the vehicle's wired intercom system according to such contemporary technology.
In an effort to mitigate the problems associated with bailing out of a vehicle, crew members may be provided with two-way walkie-talkies or radio transceivers. However, as those skilled in the art further will appreciate, such radio transceivers do not communicate directly with the wired intercom system of the vehicle, but rather communicate only with a radio transceiver of the vehicle, typically operated by a radioman or other crew member. Thus, direct communications with the entire crew is not maintained when a person outside of the vehicle communicates via such a radio transceiver.
Those skilled in the art will further appreciate that it is sometimes important for the crew member who has left the vehicle to communicate directly to a member of the crew other than the radioman or other crew member who is operating a radio transceiver within the vehicle. For example, it may be important to tell the driver of the vehicle (who may not be operating the radio transceiver) that it is necessary to perform a particular maneuver in order to avoid damage to the vehicle and/or injury to the crew members. Thus, it will be appreciated that it is very desirable for such a member of the crew, who has left the vehicle, to remain in direct communication with all members of the crew of the vehicle.
Further, the use of such a radio transceiver necessitates that the crew member carry an additional piece of equipment, having additional weight, thereby contributing substantially to the overall weight load of the crew member. This may be very undesirable, particularly in instances wherein the crew member is expected to traverse large distances by foot.
In view of the foregoing, it is desirable to provide means for communicating with substantially the entire crew of a vehicle, such as a tank or armored personnel carrier, by a crew member who has bailed out or left the vehicle and has thus unplugged himself from the vehicle's wired communications system. It is further desirable that such means for communicating with the crew of the vehicle be lightweight, easy to use, and not cumbersome in design.